The orthopedic immobilization industry has developed a need for a resealable package used with continuous length moisture-sensitive synthetic splinting materials. Exemplary moisture-sensitive synthetic splinting materials are described in, for example, the following U.S. Pat. No.: 4,609,578 to Reed; U. S. Pat. No. 4,667,661 to Scholz et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,937 to Scholz et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,803 to Scholz et al. These products are typically moisture-sensitive, i.e., exposure to moisture, including ambient humidity levels, causes these products to rapidly stiffen and form a cured splint or cast.
The requirements for packaging these products include a long shelf life —e.g., two years or more at ambient conditions—along with a package allowing easy dispensing of the product. These challenges are made more acute because the product is not typically refrigerated, but is instead typically stored at ambient temperature. For the above reasons, any package for use with these products preferably forms a hermetic seal which is moisture-impermeable.
Due to these stringent packaging requirements, these products have typically been sealed in single-use packages containing pre-cut lengths of the products. Such packaging, however, sometimes results in wasted product and packaging material, as well as increased costs associated with individually packaging each pre-cut length of casting/splinting material.
Attempts have been made to package these products in continuous length packaging to avoid the waste associated with pre-cut length packaging. U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,299 to Parker, U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,046 to Parker, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,738 to Parker all disclose a medical bandaging product packaged in an outer sleeve of a moisture-impermeable material such as an aluminum foil laminate. The moisture-proof outer sleeve package disclosed is essentially as long as the product contained therein. The packaged product is typically rolled up and placed in a box where it may be unrolled such that a portion of the package (with the product therein) may be cut to length. The remaining packaging material is then resealed after each use. This packaging system has the advantage of allowing the product to be cut to the particular length desired, but also has several disadvantages.
Among these disadvantages are that packaging the material as a roll in a box produces many creases in the relatively stiff aluminum foil laminate typically used to form the sleeve. The creases potentially are a source of pinholes which leak and cause premature curing of the product in the package. Also, because the entire length of the product must be enclosed in an outer wrap of the packaging material, a relatively large amount of packaging material is used which adds to the cost of the product.
One attempt to solve the problems associated with packaging the entire length of the product is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,970 to Parker et al. That patent discloses a continuous length splinting material packaged in an outer container formed of a moisture-impervious material. The bulk of the product is stored in an enlarged area of the package with an elongate dispensing sleeve extending from the enlarged area.
The package appears to include two side panels having an enlarged area and tapering to form the sides of the extended sleeve and a strip used to connect the sides of the package and form the top and bottom of the extended sleeve. As depicted in the drawings and described in the specification, this package is not easily manufactured using existing packaging equipment. In addition to the problems with the packaging, the patent also fails to disclose an effective and easy-to-use means of sealing the extended sleeve during and between uses.
Accordingly, known methods have proven less than desirable in use. The more secure of the devices are difficult to use which increases the amount of time the package is open during use, thereby allowing moisture to enter and harden the material therein. Conversely, the sealing methods which are easy to use form seals of questionable integrity which allow moisture penetration into the package even when the seal is closed.
One container that overcomes many of these problems is shown in U.S. Pat No. 5,505,305 to Scholz et al. Here, the container includes a magnetic closure coupled to the opening of an expandable pouch which contains moisture-sensitive product therein. The magnetic closure permits hermetic sealing of the pouch between uses. While highly effective, the invention of the '305 patent generally requires coupling of at least a portion of the magnetic sealing device to the pouch. Further, some moisture intrusion may occur when the magnetic closure is open, e.g., during dispensing.